Nearly 500 Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) faculty, alumni, friends and family packed Memorial Church early last month for a two-part celebration of the life and legacy of JOHN G. “JACK” MCDONALD, the Stanford Investors Professor of Finance.

McDonald, BS ’60, MBA ’62, PhD ’67, taught more than 10,000 MBA and Executive Education students over a remarkable 50-year career at the school. He died January 26, 2018.

Following the memorial service, attendees gathered under domed tents to commemorate McDonald with a tribute: the renaming of Highland Hall to Jack McDonald Hall and The GSB Common to The Stanford Investors Common.

The newly dedicated spaces will live as a tribute to his legacy and student involvement, as the residential facilities and experience create an opportunity for students to build meaningful relationships.

Highland Hall opened in 2016 and features 3- and 4-story buildings with 202 living units placed around open courtyards. With nearly all first-year MBAs living on campus, living and learning spaces like Jack McDonald Hall give students an opportunity to benefit from the diverse community and build lasting relationships with classmates and faculty outside the classroom. It was always the intention of lead donors Mary and R. Michael Shanahan, AB ’60, MBA ’65, for the residence to be renamed Jack McDonald Hall following his retirement from the school.

The multi-use event space known as The GSB Common was also renamed as The Stanford Investors Common at the request of an anonymous donor to the space. It reflects the endowed professorship that McDonald held for many years, which had been established in 2004 by a group of former students, friends and colleagues.

McDonald’s legacy at Stanford GSB lives on through the buildings named for him as well as the renamed John G. McDonald Professorship as a testament to his five decades of teaching at the business school. McDonald was beloved and highly regarded among Stanford GSB students, faculty and alumni. His impact on the community is far-reaching, but the influence he had on students’ lives is what made McDonald so remarkable.